Margaret Oliphant's The Perpetual Curate (1864) is the fourth of the Chronicles of Carlingford, her acclaimed sequence of provincial novels written in conscious rivalry with Trollope's Barsetshire books. Its hero is Frank Wentworth, the young, handsome, high-minded perpetual curate of St. Roque's — a clergyman with the cure of souls but no settled living of his own, and therefore dependent on the goodwill of others for any hope of advancement, or of marriage.

Frank's path is blocked at every turn. His wealthy maiden aunts hold a living that could make him free to marry Lucy Wodehouse, the woman he loves — but they disapprove of his 'High Church' churchmanship and will not bestow it. The new Rector of Carlingford resents the popular young curate and his mission among the poor. His saintly brother Gerald is being drawn by conscience toward conversion to Rome, at the cost of everything he has. And when a foolish girl vanishes from the town, gossip fastens the scandal on Frank himself, threatening the one thing a clergyman cannot afford to lose: his good name.

Refusing to defend himself by any means that would compromise his honour or his principles, Frank fights for his reputation, his ministry, and his love all at once. Oliphant tells it in a voice that is dry, ironic, and deeply humane — alert to the small economies of provincial life, the indirect power of its women, and the hard arithmetic of money and position beneath every question of faith and feeling. A study of integrity under pressure, The Perpetual Curate stands on its own, but rewards reading alongside Salem Chapel and Miss Marjoribanks.

This edition presents the complete public-domain text of the 1864 novel in clean, readable typesetting prepared for the modern e-reader.